On Thursday, August 18, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the award of $55 million in loans and grants to a variety of investments in rural community development across the nation.   A total of 107 projects in 31 states and Puerto Rico will receive funding.

These loans and grants are awarded annually by USDA’s Community Facilities Program, which finances crucial community facilities in rural areas in an effort to “help rural communities remain attractive places for job creation and business expansion,” Vilsack said.

In this round of project grants, a few projects related food and agricultural systems were awarded funding, such as:

• A $30,750 grant to complete the unfinished interior of a facility built to house the Farmer’s Market and a community center in Palestine, Illinois;
• A $1,120,000 loan to construct a food pantry in Monroe County, Michigan;
• A $4,500 grant to purchase additional oven for meal preparation for the East Prairie Nutrition Center, Missouri;
• A $900,000 loan to purchase and renovate a building for warehouse and offices of a regional food bank for the Southeast Missouri Food Bank, Missouri.

NSAC supports USDA’s continuing attention to the importance of developing local and regional food systems throughout the country through a variety of marketing, rural development, nutrition, conservation and related programs.

Click here to read the full list of 2011 Community Facilities awards.

Download NSAC’s Guide to Federal Funding for Local and Regional Food Systems to learn more about the applicability of the Community Facilities grants and loans to food systems and agriculture.